The Houston Astros and highly coveted free agent starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai have reached an agreement on a three-year, $54 million contract that could be worth up to $63 million. The club has yet to confirm the deal, which includes opt-outs. Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported on this development Thursday afternoon.
The signing comes after Imai was posted for Major League Baseball earlier this offseason. The 27-year-old had a negotiation window that was set to close at the start of the new year. He will now join the Astros, who are looking to return to the postseason after going 87–75 in 2025.
Imai had made it known in the past that he would like to overthrow the back-back defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed Japanese superstars Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the prior off-seasons. The Astros have two World Series titles under their belt with the first in 2017 coming against the Dodgers.
What can Tatsuya Imai do for the Astros
Tatsuya Imai spent eight seasons with the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball. The right-hander recorded a 1.92 ERA in over 163 2/3 innings this season. He had 178 strikeouts, 45 walks and allowed six home runs.
One of his best starts of the year came when he tossed eight innings of a combined no-hitter. Imai went on to strike out 17 batters in a two-hit complete-game shutout. He generally relies on his fastball and slider to record outs, but can throw a change-up, splitter and sinker.
For the Astros, this is their first major signing, aside from bringing in Ryan Weiss and acquiring Mike Burrows in a three-team trade. Tatsuya Imai can fill a gap in their starting rotation with All-Star Framber Valdez possibly signing elsewhere.
Major League teams that sign players through posting must compensate the Asian team from which the player transfers. In this situation, the Lions will receive a posting fee of $9.675 million from the Astros and a supplemental fee of 15% of any earned bonuses, salary escalators and exercised options. However, Imai will not be subject to a qualifying offer, so the Astros won’t have to give up draft compensation.
More Houston Astros Articles
More MLB Articles
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
- Category
-
Houston Astros
